The Little Swimmer
by mariannesinger16
Summary: The Little Mermaid retold with Free characters with my own little twists and surprises. WARNING: Contains yaoi/shounen ai.
1. Chapter 1

A dirty blond haired Prince watched calmly as a group of seagulls flew across his bedroom window.

"The sea is calm," his red haired servant said. "King Tritan must be in a friendly mood today."

"King Tritan?"

"Haven't you heard, Prince Makoto? He's the ruler of the Seven Seas, King of all the ocean!"

"Rin," said the knight outside, "don't spout such nonsense in front of our Prince."

"Hmp."

"He sounds like a guy I certainly wouldn't wanna anger," Makoto joked.

A seagull flew right above the ocean to grab a fish, causing the school around it to swim away in several locations.

After several minutes of fleeing further under water, the school made it to a castle several hundred feet below the surface.

Riding into the castle's large doors on a whale was a purple tailed Merman with dark blue hair, and red glasses in front of his purple eyes. The whale was also carrying skimpy Mermaids, who seemed to be arguing with each other.

"Don't think he'll fall for you, he's mine!"

"No, he's mine!"

"You're both wrong, he's mine!"

"My ladies," the Merman interrupted, "this is for my Prince to decide." He bowed his head as the whale entered the castle. "King Tritan-sama, we're here."

A tall, fit Merman with a large white beard going down to his waist where a blue tail started was sitting on a tall throne three feet above where the whale entered.

"Welcome back, Rei," he greeted. "I see you have the suitors present."

"Yes, my King."

"Good, I just sent for my son. I'm sure he'll choose wisely."

"Sire!" a Merman cried as he swam up to the ocean king. "Prince Haruka-sama is missing! We can't find him, we've checked everywhere!"

Rei looked up and gasped, causing his glasses to slide down towards the middle of his nose.

 _Not again! Why now!?_

Tritan gripped his tritan, causing lightning to spew out of it.

"HARUKA!" he shouted as he shot the lightning out.

The electric sparks shot upwards up through the roof of his castle. They didn't stop in mid-water, they kept going until they cut apart the top layer of the sea, and eventually made their way towards the clouds.

A red tailed Mermaid screeched and grabbed onto a tall blue tailed Merman.

"LIGHTNING!"

The Merman sighed.

"Father must be pissed again..." The lightning fell back down from the now darkened clouds, and struck a ship, setting it on fire. "Gou, let's save those people."

"Don't call me Gou! It's Kou!"

The Merkids were able to hold four-to-five humans in Gou's small arms, and Haruka's broad muscles. When they came to, the sailors only saw the dark blue tail of the Mer-Prince sink into the water.

"W-was it a dolphin?"

"Hey, bro, look at this!" Gou said as she held up a captain's hat. "One of the sailors dropped this. What is it?"

"Let's give it to Nagisa. It's something to do while father calms down."

"What's he mad about this time? Wait for me!"

* * *

An blond Merman was kicking his orange tail up and down through the water, his hands behind his head.

"I'm bored," he moaned right before he heard someone knock. He looked through the broken pieces of wood to see the siblings outside the sunken ship. "Haru-chan!"

"Would you stop calling me Haru already?"

"Hi, Nagisa!"

The cute blond put his head out of the old shattered window of the ship, smiling with an excited blush on his pale cheeks.

"It's so nice to see you two again. Did you guys save more people? Did you bring anything for me?"

"Yes," Haru responded blankly as he handed him the sailor's hat. "I'm afraid we don't know what this is, though. Do you?"

Nagisa grabbed the hat and cupped his chin as he hummed in thought.

"Oh, I know! Humans use these to cover their boobs!"

"WHAT!?" Gou cried as a large blush spread across her face. "M-my brother was holding a human version of shells!?"

"It's all right, I guess," Haru said blankly.

"Thank you so much, guys. I'll go get something, be right back!" And in a few seconds, he was back. "Here you go, a net! I'm sure it'll help out with SS, right?"

"Remember, Nagisa, you can't tell anyone!" Gou snapped. "Daddy would kill us if he knew we were helping humans."

"You tell me that all the time, Gou. I get it, I won't tell anyone Haru-chan's secret."

"Stop calling me that!" the siblings cried in unison, Gou at the top of her lungs, and Haru calmly.

Nagisa giggled.

"I'm just impressed you managed to save some humans on the same day the suitors will be coming! Who do you think you're gonna choose, Haru-chan?"

The siblings stared off into space with their eyes widened.

"... Oh," Haru said, "I forgot."

"THE SUITORS WERE COMING TODAY!?" Gou cried. "That's why father's so pissed! Come on, Haruka, we've gotta go! I hope it's not too late!"

"I couldn't care less."

* * *

"Haruka, that is the third time you ran away from the suitors."

"This time I forgot."

"You have women who are willing to marry you, so we can unite our Kingdoms. What is keeping you from doing this!?"

"I'll rule this Kingdom by myself. I don't care what happens to the princesses. I don't even need a lover. Who wants to be romanced, anyway?"

"If you don't have an offspring, then there's a chance we could lose the Kingdom."

"I don't really care."

Tritan sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"What do I have to do to get an emotion out of you? Any emotion?"

"Sorry, father, but it's rather difficult for me to express emotions," the prince admitted. "If I can't feel love, then you shouldn't try to make me get married. Or, you could keep trying. I'll try and remember next time. Excuse me, Gou and I are going out."

"Don't call me Gou!" Gou cried from outside. "It's Kou!"

Rei sighed and swam up to Tritan.

"Your majesty, with all due respect, there's something seriously wrong with your son. If he never shows any signs of emotions, then he won't even care to protect this Kingdom, you need to do something about him."

"What am I supposed to do? I've already tried everything," Tritan said with his face in his large hand. "What do you propose we do, Rei?"

"We need to do whatever it takes to get some emotion out of him. Someone has tell him what will happen if he doesn't start caring, that it could affect his Kingdom or his family, and to keep him under supervision!"

"That's an excellent idea, Rei!" Tritan agreed. "Which is why _you_ are going to be that someone!"

"M-me, sir?"

* * *

Rei moaned as he pushed his glasses up.

"I can't believe the King put me in charge of babysitting... I should be training the army, not looking after a literal emotionless teenager!" He looked up and saw Haru holding a folded net under his arm, motioning his sister to follow him. "What's he up to?"

Rei quickly and silently followed the Mer-kids to a cave hidden by some seaweed. He slowly followed in after them, and gasped at the sight in front of him.

Hanging on the walls were life rings, diving helmets, and Haru and Gou were hanging above them a net. The redhead wiped her brow after she hooked it around a rock.

"Phew. Finally. Where does Nagisa manage to get all of this stuff?"

"Haruka-sama! Kou-sama!"

Gou shrieked.

"R-Rei-san!"

"What the hell is all of this!?"

"Oh, we've been busted," Haru said blankly. "This is the material needed for SS, 'Ship Savers.' It used to be a secret group of Merfolk who save humans from shipwrecks, at least, until you showed up just now."

Rei stared at the siblings in shock at the duo, unable to comprehend what he had heard.

"... Merfolk interacting with humans is illegal."

"We know, please don't tell our dad!" Gou begged. "Please!"

"Where did you two get these things!?"

"Nagisa."

"Haruka!"

"Nagisa? That pervert who sells human material for porn pictures!?" Rei put his hand to his head. _I can't believe it... these two!?_ "You both are in a lot of trouble. Come with me, right now."

A shadow loomed over the opening in the ceiling.

"What's that?" Haru asked as he swam towards it.

"Haruka-sama! Haruka-sama!" Rei cried as he chased him.

"Onee-chan!"

Haru rose above the waters to see the night sky light up with several types of colors and shapes above a sailing ship.

"Haruka-" Rei gasped at the sight in front of him. "N-no, it can't be..." The Prince started swimming towards the ship. "Haruka-sama!"

Curious, the Mer-Prince jumped onto the side of the ship and looked in at the human activity through a small hole in its side. Everyone seemed to be dancing and singing, some were blowing through a type of small white stick.

 _This will continue if father remains calm._

Someone caught his eye, causing his heart to skip a beat.

He saw Prince Makoto standing all the way across from him, shivering and lightly hugging himself, all while staring at the ocean. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of this man.

"Haru-chan!" a familiar blond cried as he jumped up next to him. "Whatcha looking at!?"

"Shh. I'm... observing."

Rin ran over to the shivering blond.

"How're you enjoying the voyage, my prince?"

"I-it's good."

"That's Prince Makoto," Nagisa whispered. "I'm a bit surprised he's out here, he's the prince of dry land. H-Haru-chan?"

Haru was resting his head on his arms, staring still at the prince. Lightning struck, causing him to turn his direction in the opposite way.

"A storm's coming!"


	2. Chapter 2

Rain started falling from the lightning filled clouds, and the waves started crashing against the giant ship, knocking the Mer-Prince off.

"Haruka-sama!" Rei cried as his prince fell into the water next to him. "Let's get-" Nagisa fell on his shoulders, knocking them both under the surface.

"Quickly, raise the sails!" a sailor cried.

Makoto tightly hugged himself, and backed up to the edge of the ship, shivering.

"Makoto-sama!" Rin cried. "Get-" Another wave pushed the ship to the side, causing the dirty blond to fall overboard. "MAKOTO-SAMA!"

Haru was the first one to notice the prince had fallen overboard, and quickly said,

"Gou, let's save these people."

"R-right. And it's _Kou_!"

The other humans luckily had gotten themselves in life boats, calling out for their prince, unaware he was in Haru's muscular arms.

The two of them washed up on shore by sunrise, greeted soon by Nagisa.

"Haru-chan!"

Haruka looked up at the blond with a look he'd never seen him wear, a look of concern and worry.

"Nagisa, is he all right?"

"Hmm... I can't tell." He put his foot to his ear. "I'm sorry, Haru-chan, I don't hear anything..."

The Merman lightly gasped and put both his hands to the Human's chest.

"I think I saw a few humans do something to revive someone before!" he said as he started constantly pushing down on the muscular chest.

Rei and Gou washed up on shore, Rei searching for his glasses. When he finally found them and put them on, he noticed his prince about to preform mouth-to-mouth with Makoto.

"Haruka-sa-"

Nagisa tackled him back into the water.

"That human needs help."

"Nagisa-kun! Rei-san!" Gou cried.

Haru moved his lips closer to Makoto's, only for salt water to be coughed up in his pale face, which bore a relieved smile, which made his younger sister gasp.

"Thank goodness..."

 _He- he's happy!_

Makoto slowly opened his green eyes, and saw his hero smiling at him through a blurry vision. Haru quickly left his sight, right as a red haired servant ran up to them.

"Makoto-sama!"

"R-Rin..."

"Thank goodness you're okay-" The Prince fell on his servant's chest, wrapping his arms around his neck. "... It's okay, now, sire. I'll get you back to the castle."

"Where'd Nagisa go?" Rei growled. "Oh well, this doesn't matter. Tritan-sama will never know! You won't tell him, _I_ won't tell him. And none of us will have to die!"

"Rei-san," Gou whispered. "Haruka was... was happy."

Haru sat up on a rock and stared at Makoto leaving the shore.

"... Is that human going to be all right? He seemed scared of the ocean."

"I don't think it's any of your concern, your majesty," Rei said. "Now come on, we have to head back before your father starts to wonder where we-"

"I'm worried," Haru interrupted. "I want to protect him."

His butler took him by the arm gently.

"You are in enough trouble already. Now come on, both of you," he said sternly as he slipped under the water.

Gou slowly followed, and said to her brother,

"Haruka, you were... happy."

"... That's nice."

* * *

During the few weeks that had passed since then, Haru went up to scan the surface for ships more often, earning several complaints from Rei.

Whenever he wasn't patrolling the surface, he was off into space, seemingly day dreaming about something.

"Haruka?" Tritan asked one afternoon. "Are you all right?"

The Prince tensed up at the sudden interruption.

"Y-yes, father, I'm fine," he said as he swam away with a light blush on his cheeks.

Gou sighed heavily as she swam up to her father.

"There's no doubt about it," she said with her hands on her face. "The daydreaming, the slight blush when he's snapped back to reality... Our Prince Haruka-kun is in love, daddy."

The sea king stared off in the direction his son had gone in shock. Crying tears of joy, he picked up his daughter and spun them both around the room.

"An emotion! He's finally feeling an emotion!"

Gou laughed.

* * *

Rei paced around his prince's room in anger.

"Your highness, you have to stop going to the surface!" he snapped. "Your father will find out eventually, and it's sushi for me! Haruka-sama, are you listen-"

"I can't take it anymore!" Haru cried as he swam out of the window.

"H-Haruka-sama!"

"Is he all right? Did something happen to him on land? I'll have to steal something from a ship, and have Nagisa tell me where he lives."

"Haru-"

"Then Gou and I can cause small waves to get their attention, they'd have to send him out-"

"HARUKA-SAMA!" Rei cried as he grabbed his blue dolphin tail. "Would you stop obsessing over that human!? It's none of your business if he's alive or not!"

"Rei, I'm worried about him! I've... never felt this way before..."

"The first time in your life you feel any emotions, and it's over a hu-" He stopped mid-sentence, realizing something. "... Do you love this human?"

"I don't know. I don't know _what_ exactly it is I'm feeling. But, it's telling me to protect him, by any means possible."

 _This- this can't be... Haruka-sama is gay?_

"Rei-san!" a servant cried as he swam up to them. "Rei-san, Tritan-sama wants to see you. Something about Haruka-sama."

Rei turned completely pale and sank to the ocean floor.

 _He knows..._

"Onii-chan!" Gou called as she swam up to him. "I've got something to show you, come with me!"

* * *

"What is it, Gou?"

"It's _Kou!_ And you are going to love this. I gave Nagisa-kun something humans use to cover their fins, and he gave me these!" she said as she held up several pictures of Makoto.

"That's Prince Makoto! Thank you so much, nee-san!" Haru said with a large smile as he hugged his sister. "So he _is_ all right..." He held up the photo and smiled deeply. "Thank goodness, I was worried sick..."

The redhead snickered.

"Maybe he'll make you his personal body guard."

"I honestly think I'd take better care of him than the people on that boat."

"HARUKA!" a booming voice echoed throughout the small cave.

"F-father!"

"... What's this I hear, you've been talking to humans?" he asked, causing the siblings to stare in disbelief at the servant behind the king. "Talk to me, young man."

"I went up to the surface and saved a human. So?"

"Interaction between humans and Merfolk is illegal! You, of all fish, should know that!"

"I protect humans from the ocean, it's a hobby of mine. What else is there to do, besides waste my life by marrying a Mermaid and keeping an eye on a boring ocean?"

"... You just don't care..." A giant fist collided with Haru's pale face. "... So you don't care if I greatly punish you... But, I'm your father, and I still care. So no matter how little you do, I'll punish you."

"Father, stop- UNG!" Gou was knocked into Rei, who held her tightly in his arms.

"Stop it, Kou-sama," he said. "Trying to stop him will only make him angrier."

Lightning sparked around the tritan, causing Haruka to gasp and grab onto his father.

"No! Don't!" he cried. "Makoto the human... He can't be in another storm! Don't use the tritan, please, I'm the one you're mad at! Leave Makoto be!"

"... Now that I know the weakness of a human, I won't hesitate."

"Father, no!"

After a severe lightning storm both underwater, and on the surface, the Mer-Prince was on the ground, heavily charred and frantically panting.

Tritan turned to leave, but not before giving his son a glance of regret.

"I'm sorry, Haruka. Obey my rules, and I won't have to do that again. ... Neither of us wanted that." And with that, he left.

Gou and Rei swam up to him.

"Haru!"

"... Makoto might have been in that storm," he whispered. "Did it scare him?"

"I'm sure he's fine-"

"Go away... Go away, both of you..."

The twosome left to leave the injured prince in peace. Soon after they left, two eels came up to Haru and wrapped their tails around his muscular arms, dragging him through the water out of the cave.

"... Who... who are you?"

"Hush, our prince, we know of someone who can help you."

"REI-SAN, BAKA BAKA BAKA!"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell-"

They both looked up to see the eels carrying Haru away.

"Haruka-sama!" Rei called. "Where are you going!?"

"... They're... helping me..."

* * *

They followed the eels to a dark castle, surrounded by moving seaweed.

"This- this is Ursulus' castle! The King of Witchcraft! Give back-"

The eels slapped the tailing Merfolk away, and continued to carry the Prince inside.

Haru opened his dark blue eyes to feel a soothing hand on his forehead, healing him, soothing him. He looked up to see the hand belonged to a fit Merman with octopus tentacles for a tail.

"All right, my Prince, you're okay now."

"... You- you're Ursulus...!"

"That's right. Did your father tell you about me?"

"Y-yes... You and he had a strong rivalry a few years before I was born. You took it too far and attempted to kill him. He spared you and banished you out here, you're no longer allowed to enter our Kingdom."

"Exactly. You're rather calm despite knowing that."

"I don't really care."

Ursulus chuckled.

"I could kill you to take revenge upon King Tritan, however, considering what he's done to you, I doubt he cares about you." That hit Haru like a slap. "So, it seems I have no use for you. Take him away, boys."

"W-wait!" Haru said. "I know you're an expert at witchcraft..."

"Oh, a customer?"

"I... have no reason to be here," Haru said. "No one cares about me, and there's nothing for me to do here. So, can... Can you please make me a human?"

"A human?"

"There's... someone on land I wanna protect." He blushed and tensed up again. "I've never felt this way before, I feel emotions now because of him. I feel like I was meant to protect him from the ocean. S-so please make me a human!"

"Well, why don't we make a contract?" the octopus proposed. "I can make a potion that'll turn you into a human for three, and only three, days. During that time, you must get this human to make you his own personal body guard. If you do, then you remain human forever. If not, you turn back into a Merman... and you belong... to me."

"No! Haruka-sama, don't do-"

The eels grabbed Rei and Gou by the mouths and pulled them away.

"Oh, wait," Ursulus said as he face palmed. "We haven't discussed the matter of payment."

"I don't have-"

"I'm not asking much. What I want from you is... the ocean's love for you. When you are in ocean water, you will become immobilized. Will this all be worth it to protect this human?"

"... Yes. I accept."

Ursulus laughed as magic surrounded the Mer-Prince. When it cleared, his tail had split into legs. Like the witch had said, he was paralyzed in the water, and in need of air.

Rei and Gou broke free from the eels and carried him towards the surface.

His black haired tossed behind his head, and air flowed smoothly into his lungs.

 **A/N: I'm so far very proud of this. Constructive criticism is advised. I have another important story I'm writing, so if you wanna read the next chapter to this one ASAP, then please leave this a review, and have a good day.**


	3. Chapter 3

"That was just a dream, that was just a dream," Rei whispered to himself. "When I wake up, Haruka-sama will be back to normal." He opened his eyes to see Haru sitting in the water, and two legs attached to his torso. "AHHHH!" His eyes closed again as he fell over in the shallow water.

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Okiru!" Gou cried. "Oh, right, you're immobilized in the water. Hrgh!"

Grunting, she picked up her older brother and slowly placed him on the sand, where he coughed for air.

"... G-Gou?"

"It's Kou! Never mind, look, onii-chan! You have legs! Human legs! This is incredible!" And... something sticking out in between them. What is it?"

Haru lifted up his right leg and wiggled his toes, but seemed rather disinterested.

"... They're all right, I guess."

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa cried as he swam up to them. "Oh man, there's something different about you... You've been losing weight, huh?"

"No."

"No? That's not it, huh? Hmm... I can't quite put my finger on it, but I _know_ there's something different about you, Haru-chan. Maybe if I just sit here looking at you long enough-"

Rei sat up and grabbed his blond hair, pulling it all over the place.

"HE'S GOT LEGS YOU IDIOT!" He tossed him in the water. "JUST LOOK AT HIM! On legs! On _human_ legs! No, no I won't accept this! If I can just get Urusulus to give you back your tail-"

"No, Rei, please! I need to help Makoto!" Haru cried as he grabbed Rei by the tail. "Please... I feel like this is what I'm meant to do. I've never felt this way about anything before."

"Please, Rei-san," Gou begged.

Rei sighed.

"All right, I'll help you find that human..."

Haru let loose a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Rei."

The butler sighed and pushed his glasses up.

"What have I become?"

Haru slowly stood up on his new legs and held out his arms, trying to gain balance. He took a single step forward and nearly fell over, holding his breath.

"What's that thing sticking out in between your legs?" Gou asked. "Can we get rid of it? It's bothering me."

"Hmm... I know what that is!" Nagisa cried. "I've seen humans use that to put water into the ocean!"

"H-how the hell does that work?"

"I don't know, I didn't invent it."

"Rin-san!" a voice called, causing the Merfolk to dive back into the ocean.

Haru's heart skipped a beat when he saw Makoto run down a side path onto the beach.

"Rin-san!" he called again. "Where'd he g-" He gasped when he saw Haru, who was combing his fingers through his black hair while staring at him, blushing. "Who the- who are you!? What're you doing out here naked!? Are you a streaker!?"

"N-no, I... I..."

Makoto took off his shirt, causing Haru to blush harder, and wrapped it around his naked waist.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I-I, uh... um..." He gulped and cried, "I'm Prince Haruka of the ocean. I've turned from a Merman to a human to protect you from the sea, Prince Makoto."

The dirty blond stared gobsmacked at the sea prince.

 _This kid is in need of some serious help._ "D-don't worry, I'm gonna help you. Come with me."

Nagisa shot Haru-chan a thumbs up from behind.

* * *

Haru was lying in water, which to his surprise wasn't salty. It was smooth, and there was a weird spongy fluid floating around it. He didn't understand it, but it was relaxing. For a moment he wondered why he was able to move in it, but then he thought that it was because it wasn't salt water.

"Are you almost done?" a gentle voice asked from above the soapy water, causing the Mer-prince to look up to see a hand reaching out to him. "If you stay in there too long, you'll drown, Haru-chan."

The swimmer blushed and narrowed his eyes.

"Don't call me Haru-chan," he said as he put his hand in Makoto's.

After he was dressed in casual peassant clothes, he was brought into a private room being questioned by Makoto and Rin.

"So you're Nanese Haruka, right?"

"Yes, for the final time."

"And... you're a Merman, and not only that, a Prince. And not just any Prince, the son of King Tritan. And you've turned into a human to protect Prince Makoto?"

"Yes."

Rin sweat dropped and whispered in Makoto's ear,

"This guy is insane. We need to get him a doctor."

Haru had good ears.

"It's fine if you don't believe me. Merfolk always hid ourselves from you humans out of fear, so I guess it's fair you don't believe we exist," he said. "But I swear, I'm not crazy. I just wanna protect your Prince from the ocean."

"Well, thank you, sir, but I don't need protection anymore. I almost drowned in a storm the other day, so my parents are keeping me away from the ocean. It's a miracle I was able to go down there today."

"W-well then, um..." The pale swimmer's hands formed fists before he snapped his head up. "Would you consider making me your personal body guard?"

His statement caused Makoto to raise an eye brow.

"Look, man," Rin said, "in the world of the sane, we don't hire beach streakers as body guards for the Prince. Now we'll have to please ask you to leave, or-"

"No, it's fine."

"Your majesty?"

The dirty blond smiled gently.

"This boy just needs help, that's all. He can stay here in the palace until he recovers. I mean, I wouldn't let him be my body guard, I have enough of those as it is."

Haru's grip around his trousers tightened.

 _I can't go to Urusulus! I'll be his body guard no matter what._

* * *

"Rei-chan!" Nagisa cried as he jumped into the water next to him. "I just overheard Haru-chan and Mako-chan's conversation, he's gonna be staying with him for a while."

"Did he agree to let him be his body guard?"

"No, he thinks Haru-chan is insane."

Rei growled.

"We've gotta find some way to get that dumb Prince to recognize Haruka-sama's greatness!"

"Oh, I have a plan," Nagisa said with a smirk.

Gou jumped up from under the water and hugged the blond.

"Thank you, Nagisa-kun! I'll get you all the human stuff you want later!"

The younger Merman smirked as dirty thoughts flooded his naive mind.

* * *

The day went by quickly without Makoto recognizing the Mer-Prince. Haru was escorted to a guest room with a small bed. He seemed oblivious to everything in the room except for a large bowl that looked big enough for a human body.

He ended up sleeping in the salt-free water. It surprised him a bit when he felt the urge to bring his head up to breathe, but he didn't have time to ponder over it when Rei and Nagisa jumped onto the window sill.

"Hi, Haru-chan!"

"Would you stop calling me 'Haru-chan' already?"

"Boys!" Gou cried as she jumped up behind them. "Scoot over!"

"Go away, Gou, nobody likes you," Nagisa said calmly. "Anyway, Haru-chan, don't worry, we're not gonna let you go to that octopus."

"Yes, Nagisa's got a plan to help you be recognized as his body guard! Don't worry, Haruka-sama, we won't let that damn octopus get you!"

The Mer-Prince felt a smile work its way on his face.

"Thank you."

"We'd better go before someone catches us. We'll see ya later, Haru-chan. Rei-chan, let's go!" the blond Merman said as he grabbed onto Rei's shoulders and pushed them away from the window sill with his tail.

"AHH!"

They landed next to the red tailed Mermaid, who screamed when the water splashed on her red hair.

A guard entered the room.

"Is something wrong, sir?"

"No, why would there be?"

"... I thought I heard something."

"Damn it, you dumb blond!" Rei cried. "Get off of me!"

The younger Merman kept his arms around his shoulders, and wrapped his green tail around his purple tail.

"You're cute! I'm gonna keep you!"

"Get off of me!"

 **A/N: Short chapter, I know. I know Nagisa's plan already, and I was gonna put in in this chapter, but I thought it'd be too long, and I'd be wasting everyone's time. Plus, this has been floating around in my computer for ages, so I thought I might as well get it out. I have a really important story that I'm working on, so if you wanna see the next chapter ASAP, leave a review. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

Haru couldn't take his eyes off of the odd sights that were before his curious dark blue eyes. Everything was so lively, strange, and surprisingly happy. It wasn't the hell sight his Kingdom had always made it out to be, it seemed like quite the opposite.

"You wanted me to show you around, right, Haru-chan?"

"... Yes, that's right."

"Come then, we have a very wide and gorgeous market. Would you like something?"

Haru looked at the salad and felt his stomach churn.

"Is this stuff edible? For me, I mean."

The human prince chuckled.

"It's on me." He held up a plate of fish. "Here," he said, "it's Mackerel, try it."

Haru did his best not to puke.

 _So humans really do eat fish? I thought that was just a rumor._

The dirty blond picked up a piece and held the chopsticks towards his new friend's pale lips.

"Come on, it's healthy. Say 'ahh'~"

Haru slowly opened up his mouth and allowed the fish to slip in.

"... It's good."

* * *

Rei kept watch of them by hanging onto the side of the railing above the ocean.

"Gross... Why's he forcing Haruka-senpai to eat this poison?"

"Rei-san!" Gou called. "Is he his body guard yet!?"

"Not yet." _Come on, Nagisa. We're waiting on you._

Bright yellow hair and a childish face popped out of the salt water.

"Gou, Rei-chan, everything is in motion. Haru-chan'll be the human prince's body guard by the end of today, trust me."

* * *

A seagull crowed as it landed next to the princes.

"What's that?"

"It's a seagull."

 _I think I've seen these things a couple times when I went to the surface... I know Nagisa knows a little about them-_

The small bird crowed again and flew over towards the dirty blond, pecking him.

"Ow! Hey!"

"What's it doing-" Haru realized that this could be a chance to win his trust. "Get away from him," he snapped as he waved his hand in front of it.

The bird pecked his forehead, causing him to stumble backwards into Makoto's muscular arms.

"Careful," he said patiently before tossing a piece of Mackerel in the opposite direction. The gull followed the fish away from them. "Are you all right?"

 _You're the one who's supposed to be in my arms!_ "Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

"Darn, it didn't work," Nagisa whined. "Gull-kun!" The gull perched itself on his blond head. "I have another idea."

"Like he would have made Haruka-senpai a body guard for protecting him from a bird," Rei growled as he pushed his glasses up.

* * *

The gull flew over a bull dog and pecked its ear. Barking, the bull dog ran after the bird in a furry. The gull led it over to the princes, and flew above their heads, motioning the dog to attack them.

"What's this creature!?"

The dog inched closer to Haru's feet, making him lose his footing and fall bridal style into Makoto's arms. Desperate to get away from the raging animal, the prince sprinted away with the smaller male still in his arms.

* * *

"Aww, I thought for sure that would work..."

"Any more brilliant ideas?" Rei groaned as he pushed up his glasses.

"Hmm..." Nagisa rubbed his chin. "Actually, yes."

* * *

The rest of Nagisa's 'brilliant ideas' resulted in pretty much the same thing. An animal attacks them, Haru tries to protect Makoto, only to be attacked by the animal and fall into Makoto's arms.

By the time they ended, it was close to sunset.

Haru frowned as he leaned over the railing above the ocean.

 _Day one, a loss..._

"I'm sorry about that, Haru-chan. Normally the animals here are docile, I swear."

"That's not what I'm upset about."

The waves crashed against the hill, bringing to Haru a nostalgic feeling. He was surprised how calm his father was being. He'd expected him to start up a storm with the fact that he had run away.

But, he was relieved that Tritan wasn't angry. The pleasant sight of the ocean made him happy. Was leaving really the best choice, he wondered.

He turned around to see Makoto had the quite opposite feeling. He was hugging himself slightly, trembling.

"Are you all right?"

"O-oh, I'm fine. It's getting late, we should head back."

* * *

Tritan hid his face in his hands.

"Where is he...?"

"Tritan-sama," a soldier called as he entered. "Status report. We still haven't found Haruka-sama, we've checked everywhere."

"If you haven't found him, then you obviously haven't checked _everywhere,_ " the king snapped. "I don't need you poor excuses of soldiers wasting my time like this! Find him! FIND MY SON NOW!"

Lightning escaped from his tritan and shot into the clouds above the ocean. A storm began to stir.

* * *

"Ah, there it is," Haru thought aloud. He turned around to see Makoto staring at the other window, trembling harder than before. "Makoto? Are you all right?"

"... I'm fine."

Lightning struck, making him tense before rushing up to Haru, wrapping his arms around his neck. Haru slowly put his hands on the dirty blond's back, pulling him in and deepening the hug.

"... Haru," the prince whispered. "I-I know we gave you your own room, but... ... but..."

He didn't need to finish. Haru pushed him over onto the bed, resting his raven head on Makoto's chest.

"Sure."

Makoto smiled and wrapped his arms around the uke, falling asleep into his warmth.

* * *

Rei grabbed Nagisa by the hair and shook him.

"YOU MORON! A FULL DAY PASSED BY WITHOUT ANY PROGRESS!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Calm down, Rei-chan. I promise I'll do better tomorrow."

"You won't be doing anything tomorrow!" Rei shoved him down under the water. "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself."

 **A/N: Short chapter, I know. Why did this come out before a New World chapter? Well, I'm taking a lot of thought into the next chapter, and I didn't wanna leave you people hanging, so I thought I'd give you this. Take care!**


	5. Chapter 5

Eyelids opened over dark green eyes to see raven hair resting on a muscular chest.

"Haruka..."

Makoto smiled before sitting up with a yawn. He decided to let Haru sleep for a while and walked over to the bathroom.

His clothes were tossed into a hamper next to a shower where he was nude and bathing. Something cold touched his leg. Haru was leaning against him.

Makoto screamed as he fell on the curtains out of the shower.

"H-Haru!?" he cried. "What're you doing!?"

"I wanted to be in the water."

Makoto stared at the naked man across from him in shock for a few seconds until he stood up, wrapping a towel around his waist.

"H-hang up the curtains when you're done, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

Makoto descended down the stairs in a tight black tux rubbing his eyes. He could not un-see that.

"Good morning, Makoto-sama."

"Good morning, Rin," the prince moaned as he entered the kitchen. "Haru is... 'taking a shower' right now. I'm assuming he'll be out in a bit."

Rin frowned.

"I still don't trust that kid."

"He seems harmless enough, I don't think we should worry about him. He does seem to be a bit of a klutz, though."

The redhead sighed.

"He wants to be your body guard when he can't even defend himself. He's hopeless."

Makoto chuckled.

"I don't know, his clumbsiness is kind of cute. Maybe I'll make him my body guard temporarily just to humor him, he obviously really wants to protect me."

"Do as you wish, your majesty."

* * *

Haru rested under the running water, giving the impression he was asleep. His eyes shot open suddenly.

 _What am I doing? I have a mission to protect Makoto!_

He bolted out of the shower, leaving it running, and sprinted towards the closet.

"Now, what types of clothes do humans wear?"

* * *

"Makoto-sama," a soldier said respectfully. "The weather warnings have called in for a storm tonight."

"Another storm?" Rin growled. "King Tritan must be thoroughly pissed off."

A hard fist struck his head.

"Rin, stop bringing up that nonsense," the soldier snapped.

"That hurt, jii-san! And it's not nonsense, it's real. The stories of King Tritan are true!"

"King Tritan is the commander of the ocean and the storm," a calm deep voice said. "If anyone or anything angers him, he shall unleash his furry through his tritan and punish the surface world for it. Sharks and Orca whales tremble and bow down in fear at his mere existence." Haruka finally appeared at the end of the stairs. "The surface is at his mercy."

"Ah, finally!" Rin chimed. "Someone else who knows how dangerous King Tritan is."

Haru nodded slowly. "... Yes. Tritan can be very violent. ... Even to his own kin."

"Forget about those stupid folk tales," the soldier growled. "What're you doing in Makoto-sama's clothes?"

The sight of Haru in a tight white tux caused Makoto to blush.

"Hmm? There was nothing else in that room for me to wear."

"It's all right," Makoto reassured. "That suit hasn't fit me for ages, anyway."

Rin put his arm around Haru.

"Hey, thanks man, I thought I would be alone on the sea mythology stuff."

"No one knows more about the sea than I do."

Haru noticed in the corner of his eye that a weird white box had a bent tube pouring water into it. A guard was putting their hands under the running water.

The Mer-prince tossed the tux on the floor before trying to squeeze into it under the water.

"Haru-chan!" Makoto cried as he pulled him by the arms.

* * *

Rei popped his purple head out of the ocean below the palace window. After straightening his glasses, he tossed a rock towards it, but it fell short and ended up back in the water.

"Da-"

A curly blond head popped up from the water right next to him.

"Hi, Rei-chan! What're you doing?"

Rei scoffed as he moved away from Nagisa.

"I'm trying to put that human in danger so Haruka-senpai can protect him." He tossed another rock that met the same fate as the last one. "Damn it!"

"Why don't you use this?" Nagisa asked as he held up a sling shot.

Rei pushed up his glasses.

"What's that?"

"I don't know what it's called exactly, but I've seen humans use it to launch rocks at faraway places."

"That's perfect! How do you use it?"

"I've got it," the blond said as he aimed at the window.

The rock missed the opening by an inch, earning the attention of everyone inside.

"What was that!?"

"Did someone really just throw a rock at us!?" Rin growled.

"Relax, they're probably just kids," Makoto said patiently as he closed the window.

"Nice going, blondie," Rei growled.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Nagisa chirped as he aimed another rock. "Things like rocks can go through human windows."

Rei laughed.

"Oh, that's just stu-"

Haru caught on to what they were doing when he peered out the window. He quickly got in front of Makoto to catch the rock that had burst through the window to hit his head.

"Are they seri...!?" Rin glared through the broken window. "HEY, STOP THROWING THINGS!"

Makoto put his hand to his chest as a relieved sigh escaped his throat.

"Thanks, Haru..."

Haru dropped the rock and headed towards the door.

"I'm gonna go talk to those punks."

"R-relax, they were pro-"

He was already out the door.

* * *

Haru went down to the sea shore. Annoyed and angered, he pulled Nagisa and Rei out from the water and glared at them.

"Rei-chan, I think he might be on to us."

"What're you two doing?"

"D-don't be mad, Haruka-senpai. We were just trying to help you win that human's love."

Haru's gaze turned from them to the water. After unbuttoning his tux again, he leaned in towards it, oblivious to the Mermen.

"You can't go in the water!" they cried in unison as they pushed him back.

"Haru!" a familiar gentle voice called. "Haru!? Are you there!? Haru!"

"This isn't over," Haru growled as his friends ducked back in the ocean.

"Haru!" Makoto called again as he ran up to him. "You didn't really harm those kids, did you?"

"I didn't need to. They ran with their tails in between their legs when they saw me."

Nagisa had to keep Rei under the water at that last statement.

Makoto sighed. The waves crashed on the crisp sand, stiffening his spine, earning the attention of his uke.

"Let's go," Haru said as he took his hand and hustled up the slope.

* * *

"Why is your tux unbuttoned!?" the dirty blond cried as he started to button it.

"I was going to get in the water before you came."

The Prince sweat dropped.

 _What is it with this guy and the water?_

Music started to play, causing Haru to perk his head up. They had music on the surface as well? Where was it coming from? When he looked back at his seme, his heart skipped a beat to see him holding out his hand.

"Want to dance, Haru?"

The MerPrince blushed as he slowly took his hand.

 _How do you dance with feet-_

Before he could ponder over his design for much longer, his precious human started moving him around to the beat of the music.

His heart beat synced with their movements, and his breath was caught in his throat every time he spun him around. His attention shifted from the gentle and happy green eyes to his feet constantly, until their gaze locked.

"Is that Prince Makoto-sama? What's he doing dancing with another man?"

"Is Makoto-sama... gay?"

"He's probably just teaching that peasant how to dance."

The Princes were oblivious to these comments around them.

Their fingers wove together as Makoto placed his hand under Haru's back, able to hold him up for the dip that went with the end.

Makoto chuckled, causing the uke to blush.

 _He seems nice... Maybe he can be my 'body guard' for a while._

* * *

" **Damn** ** it**!" Urusulus roared as he slammed his tentacle onto the table. "That little...! He's slowly gaining the human's trust. By this rate, he'll be his body guard for sure. I can't let that happen." He put his hands together as a smirk curled onto his lips. "I'll have to take matters into my own hands..."

 **A/N: Since I haven't updated this for a while, I thought I'd give you this before November. I'm going to be doing the 50,000 words writing challenge, and I'll be doing it with a different story, so this and New World will be on hold for a while. I might update them when I've finished chapters for the new story. So, review and hopefully this will be enough to hold you off until I get back. Have a nice day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'M BAAACK! So since I haven't updated this in a while, I decided to give you the final two chapters. The next one will be the last, and I'll squeeze in as much MakoHaru fluff as I can. Enjoy!**

"Haru-chan! Haru-chan!"

Cheerful squeals and constant knocking awoke Haru from his sleep. He opened the window rubbing his eyes.

"What is it?"

"Normally I would ask you for a human item for information, but I'll let it slide this once!"

"I just woke up, and I'm cranky, what do you want?"

"I heard from a conversation between two humans that Prince Makoto has found his guardian angel!" Haru's narrow eyes widened. "Yup, I think he finally found a body guard. Now what're you still doing talking to me? Go see him!"

With a smile on his face, the Mer-Prince rushed out the door. His heart pounded and an adrenaline rushed through his vines as he descended hurriedly down the stairs. It all came to a sudden halt when he saw his beloved human with another man.

A human with jet black hair, and bright green eyes, with an innocent smile on his gentle face, and biceps not too round, but not too small.

 _Who is that!?_

"He's an old friend of yours, your highness?" a soldier asked.

"Yes," Makoto blankly said before slipping his hand in the stranger's. "I love him. I'll have arranged our wedding immediately."

Haru's heart sank.

"He- he's a man, sir-"

"There are no laws against homosexual marriage in my Kingdom, are there?"

The raven didn't hear the rest of their conversation as he rushed back to his room.

Nagisa smiled from the windowsill when he came back.

"How'd it go!? Did he finally acknowledge you as his body guard!?"

"... No," Haru said slowly. "I'm..." He looked up at the younger Merman with dark blue emotionless eyes. "... not his angel..."

"... H... Haru-chan..."

* * *

The boat sailed away on the ocean, leaving the brokenhearted teen staring blankly at the ocean.

Rei banged his head against the doc.

"No, no no no! You can't go to Urusulus-"

"Calm down, it doesn't matter," Haru said dully. "I don't care if that octopus has to take me. I just don't care anymore... Who wants to be romanced, anyway?"

Rei could only reach up to hold his Prince's hand. A few days ago, he seemed to be alive, and eager, and motivated. But then he just turned back into what he was before.

* * *

The orange-tailed Merman followed the boat under water, kicking swiftly under the waves to catch up.

"I don't get it," he pouted. "Isn't Haru-chan a good guy? I'd say so..."

Eventually, he caught up to the boat. He thrust himself up on the walls and started climbing, hoping no one would spot him.

"That's it," he groaned. "I'm gonna make that human pay..." He grunted as he pulled himself up. "... for breaking my Prince's heart...!"

He finally reached a window to see the human's fiance.

 _This is Haru-chan's replacement, is he? Why I oughtta-_ His own thoughts were interrupted by the groom's reflection in the mirror. Nagisa fell from the window back into the ocean, swimming frantically to the shore. "Haru-chan! Rei-chan!"

* * *

"Well, your majesty, it's not more of what'll happen to you, it's more of what your father will do to me."

"You _are_ pretty bad at keeping secrets."

"I said I was sorry..."

" **Haru-chan!** "

Nagisa had to fall into Rei's chest in order to slow down.

"Nagisa? What's wrong?"

The blond put his hand on his small chest and gasped for air.

"I-I was swimming- Of course I was swimming... A-anyway, I peeked in the ship- Not because I wanted to steal anything, or kill Makoto, honest-"

"What is it?" Rei growled.

"Urusulus! He's the fiance in disguise!"

The two stared at him in shock.

"That bas...!"

Haru's eyes narrowed. Emotion started to come back to him, urging him to go after the boat and claim what was rightfully his. He started unbuttoning his white tux.

"Haruka-senpai, you can't get in the water! You'll be immobilized, remember?"

"You expect me to just let that swindler take my man!?"

"Guess what," Nagisa hummed. "I'm willing to give you something else today without payment."

* * *

Urusulus watched the sun set with a pleased smirk.

 _Just a few more minutes... and the Mer-Prince will be mine!_

"I pronounce you-"

A loud splash sounded right next to the ship, followed by cries for help.

"Help! Help, I fell overboard!" a young blond cried, flailing in the small waves. "Help, pull me back up!"

A light panic erupted on the ship as several people let down a latter.

"Haru-chan, now!"

Rei pulled his Prince from the water for him to grab the latter.

Half naked, Haruka quickly climbed up the latter and tossed himself on deck.

" **Urusulus!** " he roared as he ran towards them. After he shoved Urusulus against the deck, he tossed himself into the chest of his precious seme. "... **Makoto is mine**!" His arms tightened around the human prince as he tried to hold back his frustrated tears. "Makoto... Please... Please remember me...!"

"Get away him," Urusulus growled.

The light faded from Makoto's eyes. With his conscience back, he looked down at the raven haired uke hugging him tightly.

"Haruka..."

"Makoto..."

They slowly came together like magnets.

" **Get away from him**!"

Before their lips could touch, the sun set. A numbing pain ached Haru's lower body as he fell out of the dirty blond's arms.

"Haru!"

Makoto nearly fainted at the sight of a Mermaid tail attached to his torso.

Urusulus laughed.

" **It's up! Your time is up**!" he cried as his tentacles replaced his legs. He crawled over to the Mer-Prince and tossed him into the ocean.

* * *

 _No. This- this can't be ending here!_

"Don't look so scared," the octopus sneered. "It's not really you I'm after, I have much bigger fish to-"

" **Urusulus**!"

Never in his life would Haru had guessed he'd be happy to see the man in front of them.

"Dad!"

"Get your tentacles off of him."

Urusulus chuckled.

"Sorry, Tritan-san. He belongs to be now," he said as he held up a contract. "We made a deal."

"I'm sorry!" Haru cried. "I-I'm sorry, Father, I don- I was st-"

Lightning from the tritan stuck the contract. Nothing happened, causing Urusulus to laugh.

"See!? This contract can't be broken. Not even by you. But..." He squeezed the contract, which seemed to cause a sharp pain in Haru's chest. "I might be able to make an exchange for something better."

* * *

"Makoto-sama!?" Rin called from the ship. "Are you really going out there!?"

"I'm not losing him!" the Prince called from the row boat. "Now all I need to know is where is he?"

Rei and Nagisa popped up from the water.

"You're the Prince-guy, right!?"

"M-more Mermaids?"

"Ahem, we're Mer _men_ ," Rei sneered. "Anyway, that doesn't matter! We need your help."

* * *

Haru clutched his chest in pain, his dark blue eyes slowly rolling back in his head. Suddenly, the grip on his heart was released as he gasped for water.

By the time his sight returned, he saw his father on the ocean floor, lifeless.

"D-Dad?" he whispered. " **... Dad**!"

Urusulus laughed.

"It's mine...! It's mine!" he cried as he picked up the tritan. "The power of the seven seas is mine!"

" **Why you...**!" Haru cried as he grabbed the tritan. "You tricked me! Give that back!"

Electricity shot from the tritan, sending him into the ground.

"You were the one who signed my contract, blaming me won't undo that. Now bow before your king, peasant."

A sphere cut through the water and missed Urusulus' face by an inch, drawing blood. He snapped his head around to see a muscular human above him.

"Makoto!"

Before the octupus could strike him with lightning, Rei tackled him into the ground.

"Haruka-senpai, get your Prince to the surface, we'll handle this!"

Haru cut through the water to push his seme towards the surface.

"Makoto, you've gotta get outta here! You can't be in the ocean!"

The dirty blond gripped his uke. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"You can't be here!" the raven snapped. "You're scared of the ocean, aren't you!?"

The anger came to a halt. Green and blue eyes stared back at each other in silence for several seconds, until the larger male held the Merman in his arms.

"Yes," he admitted softly. "But so much now... Because my personal body guard is with me."

Haru's heart race as his face grew warm. The feel of the smaller male's rapid heart beat made Makoto chuckle.

"You know, if you had said that earlier, this all could've been prevented, and have saved us all a _lot_ of trouble," Haru said, frowning and blushing.

Makoto laughed.

"Yeah, I can see that now."

Electricity spewed from beneath them.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, since I've got some other stuff to work on, I thought I'd finish this. WARNING: The following contains my best at MakoHaru fluff towards the end. Read at your own risk.**

Lightning spewed beneath them as ink spread through the water.

Giant tentacles surfaced in between them, splitting them apart.

They didn't even have the second to call out to each other as they plunged into the ocean water. Giant tentacles surrounded Haru, ensnaring him in one location.

He scoffed and tried to squeeze through.

"Rei, you had _one_ job!"

Once he got past a set of tentacles, he saw his father's corpse on the ocean floor. He froze and stared at the body as he held his hand.

When he looked up to see the tentacles of the sea wizard around him, he realized it was all his fault. Why his father was dead, why his precious Makoto was in danger, why Urusulus was in full control, it was all his fault.

Haru clutched his fist. In only a few seconds of realization, the Prince experienced new emotions. Guilt, rage, and determination.

* * *

"Rei, you had _one_ job," Rei growled to himself as he swam around the tentacles with an unconscious Nagisa in his arms. "Get the tritan away from him. Why was that so hard for you!?"

Now what was he supposed to do? Urusulus had turned into a _freaking giant_ , how was he supposed to do anything except run away?

One of the tentacles crashed in front of him, almost crushing him. Lightning started spewing across the surface above them. The Merman's grip on the small blond in his arms tightened.

"I'm going to die today, aren't I?" He looked down at Nagisa, who was slowly starting to wake up. "Why couldn't it just be you?"

"Rei-chan," the boy moaned. "Did you get the tritan?"

Another tentacle slammed against the ocean floor next to them.

"Sorry."

* * *

Haruka ransacked through his old SS hideout, searching hectically for something.

"Come on, come on," he growled. "I know Nagisa gave it to me at one point... Ah-ha!" Finally he'd found an old sphere. "If this doesn't work, I'm stabbing that dumb blond next."

He went back to the giant octopus, who was then spewing lightning across the surface, his tentacles flailing around more harshly than before.

 _I have to pierce right where he spews his ink..._

With a gulp, he charged towards Urusulus. A wave from a tentacle pushed him back slightly, causing him to flinch. As he opened his eyes, he felt a warmth holding his hands.

Makoto was right next to him, smiling.

"Makoto...!" The dirty blond could only smile. Haru smiled back before turning back to his target with a confident smirk. "Let's do this, then."

With the boys' hands gripping the sphere, they pierced the wizard. Ink spewed through the water as the large body fell over. The tritan landed on the ground, returning to its original size.

* * *

A current caused by the wizard's fall sent the human and Merman flying.

Makoto felt the water push against his lungs. He struggled to keep his breath as he held his throat in desperation. He tried to swim to the surface, but the current kept pushing him forwards.

Right before his oxygen fled from his body, he felt something gentle touch his lips to lightly pry them apart, and cold air rushed into his lungs.

His eyes opened to reveal his newly found body guard preforming CPR.

Haru removed his mouth to smile at the human.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around the larger male. "I'll protect you until we reach the shore." Makoto felt his eyes close again. "I promise..."

* * *

Makoto woke up on the sand, the morning sun blazing against his face. He sat up and looked around the now calm sea, some parts stained with ink. His precious uke was nowhere to be seen.

It was no surprise. He suspected that a Merman wouldn't be able to follow him onto dry land. But he'd wanted to hold him in his arms one last time, and say goodbye.

" **Haruka**!"

* * *

Haru let himself sink in the ocean.

In the past three days, he felt everything. Happiness, sadness, angst, fear, excitement, guilt, relief, and love. But that all dissolved.

He continued to sink into the depths of the ocean, leaving his emotions back at the sand with the one he held most dear.

A light emitted around his tail. He shockingly looked up to see a tritan pointing at his lower body, and a happy bluenette holding it.

"Rei," Haru whispered as a sad smile crossed his face. "Thank you... Thank you so much...!"

* * *

Makoto stared at the ocean, wondering if his uke was underneath the surface.

His heart began to race. From a beam of light under the water, a familiar pale face started rising towards him. He held out his hand, too excited to speak.

Haru emerged from the salt water to grab his hand. The seme pulled him up to eye level. They stared into each others eyes, both in tears.

Makoto wrapped his large arms around the raven, laughing and crying out of happiness.

"Haru-chan! You're back!"

Haru smiled and hugged him back as tears ran down his face.

"Yes, I am," he said. "And _don't_ call me 'Haru-chan.' "

"If I don't-" He stopped hugging him to fall on his knees, holding his hands. "-will you marry me?"

Haru's face turned completely red, and he found himself unable to hide the shock and happiness in his eyes. He frowned and turned away.

"I-if it makes you happy."

Makoto sprung up to kiss him. Before he could faint, Haru closed his eyes and formed a grip around his seme's hands.

 _This is... where I belong._

* * *

Rei sighed.

"What a week..."

Nagisa hugged him from behind, crying comically.

"Haru-chan... Now where am I gonna get my human stuff?"

Rei held up the tritan.

"Now what do I do with this?"

 **A/N: THERE! FINALLY! DONE! I'm sorry it was lame, I couldn't exactly think of a thrilling climax. And if you're wondering where Gou went... she went with her brother, to the land of no one gives a shit. Thanks for reading. Review for the final chapter, please?**


End file.
